


It’s All Fun and Games

by KaelinaLovesLomaris



Series: Whumptober 2019 - FFXV [5]
Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Assassination Attempt(s), Canon-Typical Violence, Gen, Hurt Noctis Lucis Caelum, Hurt/Comfort, Poisoning, Stabbing, Video Game Mechanics, Whump, Whumptober, Whumptober 2019
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-11
Updated: 2019-12-11
Packaged: 2021-02-25 22:27:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,581
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21752968
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KaelinaLovesLomaris/pseuds/KaelinaLovesLomaris
Summary: Noctis is stabbed in an arcade while out with Prompto.Part of my collection of Whumptober 2019 prompts.
Relationships: Gladiolus Amicitia & Noctis Lucis Caelum, Prompto Argentum & Noctis Lucis Caelum
Series: Whumptober 2019 - FFXV [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1505405
Comments: 6
Kudos: 120





	It’s All Fun and Games

**Author's Note:**

> Day 8 Prompt: Stab Wound
> 
> Title subject to change.

The arcade was more crowded than Noctis would have liked. He didn’t do well with crowds, with the press of people around him that restricted freedom of movement. But today was the first day the Crownsguard, and Gladio, had allowed him out of the Citadel unsupervised after the assassination scare several weeks prior, so he wasn’t going to squander it. Besides, Prompto had been begging him to go to this arcade for weeks, even before the lockdown. It wouldn’t be fair to him to back down just because Noctis was a little uncomfortable with the crowds.

It wasn’t _that_ bad, anyways. He could warp out of a situation if he needed to. There weren’t many good warp points in the building and he’d have a limited amount of space for throwing, so he wouldn’t be able to warp far, but unless he was dealing with a rogue Glaive who could warp after him, any distance he could gain on an attacker would give him the advantage.

Noctis shook his head. He was just being paranoid. The man who had threatened to kill his dad had been caught. He was supposed to be out _enjoying himself_ , not dwelling on Gladio’s security briefings.

“Ooh, Noct, look, they have that chocobo racing simulator I’ve been dying to try!” Prompto tugged at his arm, pointing in the direction of said game.

Noctis groaned. “Fine, but only if you let me challenge you in _Monster of the Deep._ ”

Noctis let himself get swept up in Prompto’s enthusiasm, shoving thoughts of assassins and warp points out of his mind. He did keep his cell phone close at hand, knowing that Gladio would _murder_ him if he didn’t immediately respond to any messages this close to an active threat.

Half an hour passed, and Noctis finally allowed himself to relax. No one even remotely suspicious had entered the arcade. Neither Gladio nor Ignis had updated him on any threats. He was drawing only the vaguest amount of attention from the other arcade patrons, nothing out of the ordinary.

He was just about to pass Prompto in chocobo racing for the first time — really, why _did_ Prompto’s obsession with the birds have to translate to him being so much _better_ at racing — when someone bumped into him. Noctis grunted as he was elbowed in the stomach, almost losing his grip on the controller. He looked around, abandoning interest in the game, Prompto was going to win now anyways, but didn’t catch sight of who it might have been. The section of the arcade they were in was more densely crowded, considering that it had some of the more popular games. There were any number of people milling about around him. None looked especially suspicious.

Noctis shrugged, turning back to the screen just in time to see Prompto’s chocobo cross the finish line. Prompto whooped in victory, as if he hadn’t won the last three rounds, but his face fell when he looked at Noctis.

“What’s wrong, buddy?”

Noctis shook his head. “Nothing. Someone just elbowed me and…” he trailed off as he touched his stomach. Prompto’s gaze followed his hand and his face paled even as Noctis felt the wetness on his shirt.

“Um, Noct, you’re bleeding.”

Noctis looked down at the neat slice in his shirt, blood welling from the deep cut in his stomach and soaking the fabric. He’d been _stabbed_ , not elbowed. He pressed a hand over the wound, head snapping up to scan the crowd again. Nobody was looking his way, nobody was loitering somewhere they shouldn’t or looking more tense than normal. Nothing stood out. Whoever was responsible must not have stuck around, or they were _really_ good at blending in with a crowd.

Noctis swore. He was starting to feel the pain. Not wanting to cause a scene, or a panic, he kept a hand pressed to his stomach and started to weave his way through the crowd. Prompto followed him, concern on his face, as Noctis headed for the bathroom.

It wasn’t smart to use a potion in public. The restrictions on curatives for the general population grew more strict every year, with the increasing demand for them on the frontlines of the war. Flaunting his access to them would only lead to more trouble, despite the fact that Noctis was one of the few people in the kingdom who had the ability to _make_ the things.

Noctis stumbled when he reached the hallway, his vision blurring. Prompto grabbed his shoulder to steady him.

“Noct?”

Noctis waved him off. The wound was deep but not particularly large. He’d dealt with worse, and his back twinged in memory. He shook his head. The Marilith attack was _not_ what he needed to be thinking about at the moment.

He pulled out his phone, but fumbled with it. It clattered to the floor, and he realized his hands were shaking. He groaned as another stab of pain went through him. His knees buckled, and he crumpled to the floor, feeling his ankle twist as he fell. He barely noticed the new pain over the burn in his stomach.

“Noct!” Prompto dropped to his knees next to him, hands grasping at his arm. “What should I do?”

“Call Gladio,” Noctis spat through clenched teeth. _Six_ , that hurt! Fire was racing through his veins, consuming him from the inside. He bit back a scream, still not wanting to draw the attention, though it was only a matter of time before someone stepped into the hallway and saw him writhing on the floor.

He needed that potion, darn it, but he didn’t have the concentration necessary to pull one from the Armiger. Prompto hadn’t yet been given access to it, something that Noctis would remedy the first chance he got, if he survived this.

Prompto scrambled for Noctis’s phone, hitting the speed dial for Gladio.

The nausea hit suddenly. He rolled onto his side and retched, tasting bile at the back of his throat. The symptoms connected in his brain.

“Poison!” he gasped.

Dimly, he heard Prompto speaking frantically into the phone, but Noctis couldn't make out the words over the sound of his own racing heartbeat.

One of Prompto’s hands was still on his arm. Noctis didn’t understand how he could bear it. He was burning, burning, burning. He arched his back and _screamed_.

There were footsteps, and shouting, and more hands on him, but Noctis couldn’t focus. He was crumbling to ashes, burning away to nothing. Smoke filled his vision, and he blacked out.

* * *

The first thing Noctis noticed when he woke was how sore his throat was. He remembered burning, and wondered briefly if it was from smoke inhalation. But he frowned. That wasn’t right. He remembered burning, but he didn’t remember fire.

He turned his head and saw Gladio sprawled in a chair next to him, reading a book.

“Gladio,” he croaked. “What happened?”

Gladio startled, dropping the book.

“Noctis!” He was out of the chair and hovering over Noctis’s bed in the space of a heartbeat. “How are you feeling?”

“Like Ifrit took a swing at me,” Noctis said. His entire body ached and he still felt slightly sick to his stomach.

Gladio’s face darkened. “How much do you remember?”

“I remember… going to the arcade with Prompto, someone running into me… no, they, they stabbed me. Gladio! Someone tried to kill me.” Noctis grasped for Gladio’s arm and tried to sit up. He gasped at the sudden pain in his stomach.

“No, lie back down, Noct.” Gladio gently pushed him back down onto the bed. “You were stabbed with a poisoned blade. Prompto called me, but by the time I got there, there were emergency responders already on scene. Luckily they had potions with them. All I had to do was administer an antidote.”

So much for not using curatives in public. Noctis glowered. It would have made less of a scene if he’d just _taken one_ in the middle of the arcade. Most people probably wouldn’t even have noticed, and he could have avoided the scared look currently in the depths of Gladio’s eyes.

“If you ever make me listen to you scream like that again…” Gladio trailed off. He ran an agitated hand through his hair, turning away from Noctis.

“I’m sorry, Gladio,” Noctis murmured. He reached for him, careful not to disturb the rest of his body, and grabbed his hand. Gladio surrendered it easily, threading his fingers through Noctis’s.

“I thought you were going to die, Noct. I thought I was going to have to watch you die and there was nothing I could do about it.” He looked back at Noctis, and his eyes were glistening. Noctis’s heart plummeted. He clutched tighter at Gladio’s hand.

“Did you catch the guy?” he asked, trying to distract him. He wasn’t sure he knew how to deal with Gladio crying at the moment.

Gladio shook his head. “The arcade’s security cameras didn’t have a good enough view. That has been… remedied.” Noctis winced. “I don’t suppose you got a good look at him?”

“No, I didn’t get _any_ look at him.”

Gladio sighed. “I figured as much. Prompto said you didn’t even realize you’d been stabbed at first.”

Noctis flushed, but Gladio shook his head. “It’s not uncommon. But until this guy is caught, we’re back on lockdown.”

Noctis groaned, dropping his head back onto the pillow. His dad was never going to let him out of the Citadel again.

**Author's Note:**

> Don’t judge me for the _Monster of the Deep_ reference!
> 
> Come say hi on tumblr at [prince-noctisluciscaelum](https://prince-noctisluciscaelum.tumblr.com)!


End file.
